Shoe-supporting mechanism



' March 31, 1936 c JQNES 2,035,549

SHQE SUPPORTING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 2, 1933 K QMQQQ F18 @0 L W Patented Mar. 31, 1936 UNITED STATES SHOE- SUPPORTING lWIEGHANISM Charles Turner Jones, Leicester, England, as-

signor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 2, 1933, Serial No. 654,896 In Great Britain February 9, 1932 13 Claims. (01. 12-123) This invention relates to shoe-supporting mechanism and is herein illustrated as embodied in a mechanism for supporting a shoe to facilitate the presentation of the periphery of the shoe for 5 an operation thereon.

In the application of ink or stain to the edge of soles, the work is, to a large extent, done manually. The operator supports the shoe in one hand and applies the ink by means of a brush 10 substantially the shape of a toothbrush which he dips in the ink and'draws around the edge of the sole as the shoe is turned for presentation of the whole periphery of the sole. In some instances too the periphery of the heel is inked by hand,

is although commonly a larger brush is employed for this operation. It is essential that the stain shall be applied only to the edge of the sole without smooching the upper and, inasmuch as the work must be done very rapidly, skill is required,

20 and the turning of the shoe to enable the operator to see what he is doing becomes fatiguing in the course of a day, especially if the shoe is mounted on a last.

. .One important object of the present invention 25 is to provide an improved shoe-supporting mechanism which will relieve the operator of the burden of holding the shoe as it is turned and which, by turning the shoe in a predetermined plane, will facilitate the operation and enable the 3 production of a better quality of work.

To this end, the invention contemplates a supporting mechanism upon which a shoe may be positioned without delay and which will enable the turning of the shoe to present the whole Y periphery to the operator in such a position that the edge may be conveniently treated without getting stain on the upper.

With this in mind, and in accordancewith a feature of the present invention, the illustrated mechanism is provided with a rotatably mounted shoe-supporting platform adapted to receive the bottom of a boot or shoe either mounted upon a last or after the last has been removed. As illustrated, this platform is substantially as long as a 5 shoe to be treated and narrower than the shoe so that the edges of the shoe will project beyond the platform to render them accessible. Preferably and as illustrated, the platform is covered with a friction covering, such as crepe rubber, slightly 59 concaved in the forepart to avoid any rocking of the shoe on the platform and preferably provided with a heel-breast engaging abutment to facilitate the positioning of the shoe on the platform.

Still another feature of the invention resides in improved mechanism for rotatably and tiltably supporting the platform to facilitate the presentation of the whole periphery of the shoe. To this end and as illustrated, the platform is supported upon a post normally substantially perpendicular to the bottom of the platform, which 5 post is received in a bearing arranged to be adjustably inclined to suit the wishes of the operator. In order that the operator may treat all portions with equal facility and stain the shank portion of the sole readily, for example, the illustrated construction permits a lateral tilting movement of the platform upon its supporting post and provides resilient means for returning the platform toa predetermined position which is substantially normal to said post.

These and other features of the invention are described in the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation with parts in section and showing in dot-and-dash lines the outline of a shoe positioned thereon;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line IIII of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a section on the line IIIIII of Fig. 1.

It is important that an operator shall be able to'positi'on a shoe upon the supporting mechanism with a negligible amount of delay or else the device will so reduce the attainable production that it will not meet with favor. Consequently, in the illustrated. construction there is provided a rest or platform in which may be of wood and upon which a shoe such as that indicated at l2 may be placed and held thereon by the combined action of gravity and friction. To 5 facilitate the frictional engagement of the platform with the bottom of a shoe there is provided a covering of crepe rubber l4, l6 and, as will be observed from Fig. 3, the forepart portion at least of the platform is slightly concave and the cover- 40 ing likewise concave. The crepe rubber surfaces are of such a frictional nature that there is little tendency for the shoe to slide off the device, and it has been found that the concave cross-section of the forepart rubber surface l6 tends to keep 5 the shoe more stably" in position than as if the surface were truly plane.

'To' facilitate the'positioning of the shoe upon the platform, there is provided an abutment l8 for engagement with a characteristic feature of the shoe, such as the breast of the heel of the shoe, thus enabling the shoe to be positioned longitudinally and angularly upon the platform and hence with its longitudinal axis substantially parallel to the same axis of the platform. The platform In is slightly shorter than a shoe and is narrower than the shoe to be treated. This allows the edge portion of the shoe to project beyond the platform around its periphery and thus to be readily accessible to the inking brush.

The mechanism is also arranged so that it will present a shoe in the most convenient position for treatment by an operator. Accordingly the mechanism is mounted on a standard 20 which may be adjusted vertically in a column 22 to suit the stature and wishes of the operator and held in place by a clamp screw 2|. Upon the upper end of this standard is adjustably secured a bearing member 24 which may be clamped at various inclinations with respect to the standard 20 by means of a bolt 26 passing through spaced lugs on the bearing member and the interposed head of the standard 20. The platform I0 is secured to a post 30 which is freely rotatable within the bearing member 24 and the plane of the platform is substantially normal to the axis of the post. Friction is reduced by a thrust bearing 32 of the ball bearing type and the post is detachably held within the bearing by means of a screw stud 34 entering a groove 36 in the post. The construction thus far described provides a platform upon which a shoe may be rested and readily rotated in an inclined plane the position of which is determined to suit the operator by means of the clamp bolts 2| and 26. In applying ink to the forepart of the sole, the tooth-brush-like app ying brush is positioned longitudinally of the edge of the sole. On the other hand, when the shank portion of the sole is to be treated, the brush is usually swung to a position transverse to the sole. Access to this portion of the shoe is facilitated by yieldably mounting the platform ID on the post 30 for lateral tilting movements. To this end the wooden platform I0 is provided with a metal bottom plate 40 to which are secured by screws 42 substantially semi-circular lugs 44. The post 30 is provided with an enlarged head 46 filling the space between the lugs. Passing through the lugs and this head is a pivot rod 48 held within the head by a set screw 50. The upper surface of the head 46 is inclined at 52 (Fig. 2) to permit a moderate degree of tilting movement. The return of the platform to a position normal to the axis of the post 30 is effected by means of a spring-pressed plunger 54 having an enlarged head 55 which bears on the bottom of the plate 40. This plunger 54 is received within a housing 58 and is urged outwardly by means of a spring 60 therein. The housing 58 is made integral with the rod 48 and hence is supported thereby.

In the use of the device for edge inking, the operator will first adjust the height of the standard 20 by means of the clamp screw 2| and adjust the angular inclination of the bearing member 24 by means of the clamp screw 26. The shoe as presented to the mechanism will be moved forward until the breast of the heel contacts with the abutment l8 and is thereby positioned upon the platform ID, with the heel resting onthe piece of crepe rubber I4 and the forepart of the shoe resting upon the piece of crepe rubber IS. The shoe and platform may then be rotated with little effort on the part of the operator and the whole periphery of the shoe coated with ink or other stain. If, at the shank portion of the shoe, it is more convenient to tilt the shoe, this may be accomplished irrespective of the rotation of the platform against the expansive force of the spring 60 which will retum the platform to its mid position upon release by the operator. It will be noted that the weight of the parts is suchthat, as a result of the inclined position of the bearing member 24, the platform will always return to a position such as that shown in Fig. 1 and will thereby facilitate the positioning of successive shoes on the platform.

Although the shoe supporting mechanism illustrated herein has been described especially in connection with its use for the edge inking operation, it will be understood that it is in no wise limited to such use and that the scope of the invention is to be determined by the language of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, an inclined bearing member, a post mounted for free rotation in said bearing member, a shoe-receiving and supporting platform, and means for mounting said platform on said post for yieldable tilting movement of the platform and shoe into different planes with respect to the post.

2. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, an inclined bearing member, a post rotatably mounted in said bearing member, a shoe-receiving and supporting platform tiltably mounted upon the upper end of said post substantially normal thereto, and means for urging said platform to a position normal to said post.

3. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, an elongated platform narrower than a shoe to be treated, shoe-engaging means for determining the longitudinal and angular position of the shoe the sole of which rests on said platform with respect thereto, and means for rotatably supporting said platform upon an axis inclined to the horizontal and intersecting the bottom of the shoe.

4. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, an elongated platform narrower than a shoe to be treated, shoe-buttom-engaging means on the platform for locating the shoe with respect to said platform, a bearing member for rotatably supporting said platform on an inclined axis, and means for adjustably securing said bearing member at varied inclinations.

5. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, an elongated platform narrower than a shoe to be treated, means engaging the heel breast for locating a shoe longitudinally and angularly thereon, and means for mounting said platform for rotation, while always in shoe-supporting relation, about an inclined axis which is substantially normal to the platform.

6. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, a platform substantially as long as a shoe but narrower than a shoe to be treated, means for supporting said platform for rotation about an axis normal to the platform and for lateral tilting movement, and resilient means urging said platform to a predetermined position which is normal with respect to its supporting means.

'7. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, an elongated platform adapted to receive and support a shoe by engagement with the bottom of the shoe, means for supporting said platform for free rotation about an inclined axis, and a friction covering for the surface of said platform, part of said surface being slightly concave transversely of the platform.

8. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in

combination, an elongated platform for supporting a shoe, a bearing member for supporting said platform for complete rotation about an inclined axis, means for adjustably securing said bearing member at varied inclinations, and a friction covering for the surface of said platform, part of said surf-ace being slightly concave transversely of the platform.

9. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, a column, a standard vertically adjustable in said column, a bearing member tiltable upon said standard, a post rotatably mounted in said bearing member, and a substantially flat shoe-supporting platform secured to the upper end of said post and upon which a shoe may be supported irrright-side-up position.

10. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combinationQa column, a standard vertically adjustable in said column, a bearing member tiltable upon said standard, a post rotatably mounted in said bearing member, and a shoe-supporting platform secured to the upper end of said post, said platform being tiltable laterally of the shoe.

11. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, a column, a standard vertically adjustable in said column, a bearing member tiltable upon said standard, a post rotatably mounted insaid bearing member, a shoe-supporting plat- ,form secured to the upper end of said post, said platform being tiltable laterallyof the shoe, and means for returning said platform to a predetermined position with respect to said post.

12. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, a column, a standard vertically adjustable in said column, a bearing member tiltable upon said standard, a post rotatably mounted in said bearing member, a shoe-supporting platform secured to the upper end of said post, and a heel breast engaging abutment for determin-- ing the position of the shoe upon the platform.

13. A shoe-supporting mechanism having, in combination, a shoe-bottom-engaging and supporting rest provided with "shoe-positioning means located near one end andjshaped for en gagement with a characteristicfeature of the shoe, and a bearing supporting said rest and a shoe positioned thereon for substantially free rotation about an axis inclined to the vertical and intersecting the shoe bottom whereby any part of the periphery of the shoe may be readily treated.

CHARLES TURNER JONES. 

